The Council on Tribunals and its Scottish Committee are independent bodies first established in 1958 and now operating under the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992. The Scottish Committee comprises three members of the Council (including this post) appointed jointly by the Lord Chancellor and Scottish Ministers, plus a further four persons appointed solely by Scottish Ministers.
This Ministerial public appointment does not fall within the remit of either the UK Commissioner or the Scottish Commissioner for Public Appointments; nevertheless, the spirit of the Scottish Commissioner's Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies has been applied to the appointment process.
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.
In this case, no political activity has been declared.